Daily Sports Digest: Albertus to Take On Undefeated Tappan Zee

The Daily Sports Digest is Patch’s way of increasing reader involvement in sports coverage. We would like to provide you with for you to add your best photos and/or videos to share. If you see anything in our high school scores, standings or schedule that requires updating, please e-mail Mark Rinaldi directly at HVDailySportsDigest@gmail.com or like us on Facebook and post updates on our wall. Marc Maturo covers college athletics across the nation. Please send updates of your local schools or players to marcmaturo@aol.com.

Pearl River will take on Nyack in hockey and boys and girls basketball. More than just the game will be on the line for the Pirates in the girls basketball game 4 p.m. at Nyack with Christa Scognamiglio 31 points away from the Pearl River girls basketball scoring record. Pearl River will return home to face Burke Catholic 2 p.m. Saturday.

The hockey team will look to continue it's strong season with a 9:15 p.m. home game against Nyack at Sport-O-Rama.

Albertus Magnus will visit undefeated Tappan Zee at 7 p.m. tonight in the biggest basketball game of the night in Rockland County. Albertus Magnus is the defending champion in Section B and has only one loss this season, a 59-50 defeat at the hands of Tappan Zee Dec. 22 in the finals of the Pearl River Tournament. Patch will have full details on this one. 

The two schools will also face off in a girls basketball game when undefeated Tappan Zee (13-0) visits Albertus Magnus (9-3) at 4:15 p.m. 

• The Pearl River wrestling team will compete in the Rockland County Championships starting 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Tappan Zee High School. The finals are tentatively set for 4:30 p.m. Check back with Patch later today for a feature on Pearl River sophomore wrestler John Muldoon.
• Pearl River will also compete with the best in the county in boys and girls track and field this weekend, with the Rockland County Championships set for a 9 a.m. start Sunday at the Armory in New York City.

With midterms and regents dominating the schedules of local student-athletes across the state, it was easy to become engulfed in some of the week’s biggest sports stories around the country.

Most football fans began the week with a feeling of déjà vu as the road warrior Giants and the top seeded Patriots will play for the Lombardi trophy for the second time in four years. This year’s Super Bowl will be played in Indianapolis where Eli’s big brother may have played his last game for the home team Colts. Nose bleed tickets for the big game can be found on StubHub for $2,400 a piece.

Equally as noticeable is the Knicks, who were once thought to be title contenders, are 1-7 in their last eight games and face off in Miami tonight. In the only game that the Knicks won leading scorer Carmelo Anthony only scored one point.

The two sports stories that dominated the majority of the headlines where two hard goodbyes. Jorge Posada retired from the New York Yankees after 17 years of servitude toward the pinstripes and Joe Paterno was memorialized in a ceremony yesterday on the campus of Penn State.

Both of these figures were once great, but in the end they were just as polarizing.

Penn State’s Paterno Laid to Rest

Yesterday the Penn State family gathered together in the Bryce Jordan Center to pay tribute to their beloved former football coach Joe Paterno and while most people attended the event with heavy hearts and teary eyes Nike founder Phil Knight used it as a forum to exclaim Paterno’s innocence in the recent sexual abuse scandal that cost Paterno his job. 

Paterno’s years at the helm of Nittany Lion football came with 409 victories, 24 bowl wins, 2 National Championships and one career ending scandal. The memorial service paid tribute to Paterno the man and the football coach but several others feel that the Coach’s legacy is forever tarnished.

“Paterno’s mantra was ‘Success with Honor.’ As he got older and transitioned from head coach to a glorified mascot, the success became less frequent. Only recently did we discover the honor had left long ago,” Said Eric Marmon the Senior Editor of The NY Sports Digest. 

“I am certain, beyond doubt, that the Penn State scandal helped lead to his demise. I thought his abrupt dismissal after 50 years of not just coaching, but playing a big role in putting the college on the map, was a scandal unto itself. It reminds us of the eternal cry: What have you done for us lately?” Said Patch’s own .

Paterno’s legacy will continue to be debated long after he is gone. But one thing is for sure, and that is Pennsylvania State University and NCAA football are better because Joe Paterno was a part of them.

Yankees’ Posada Calls it a Career

Earlier in the week another member of the “Core Four” decided to trade in his bat and glove for a pitching wedge and putter. Jorge Posada was a member of the Bronx Bombers since 1995 and helped the team add five more rings in his 17 years.

Posada was understandably emotional at his retirement press conference as he thanked his teammates and quoted Joe DiMaggio. The former catcher had lost a step or two in the last few years but he proved to be a productive bat in the line up in his final season and helped the Yankees reach the playoffs yet again.

It is hard for fans to see players of this caliber get old, and it is even harder for athletes themselves to admit there skills are diminished. Posada may have stayed a year or too long, but when you win five championships you’re entitled to an elongated swan song.

"He could have continued his career, but he had to retire at some point, and I am glad he did it as a Yankee. There was really nothing else for him to accomplish and he will go down as probably the best Yankee catcher after Berra. I look forward to his speech in Cooperstown down the road," Said Stapleton.

“Posada was a tremendous asset for nearly 20 years at a position played with brilliance by such Yankees legends as Bill Dickey, Elston Howard and Yogi Berra. Posada is just another example that you cannot lump all pro athletes in one ball. The rats are usually in the news, but it's the class guys who truly deserve the news,” said Maturo who is also a lifetime member of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Now that the final chapter of Posada’s playing days has been written it is fun to hypothesize as to what the next step in his career may be, perhaps he joins former teammate Joe Girardi in coaching? Or he could team up with former back up John Flaherty in the broadcast booth? But the biggest question of all is after a career like his, is Jorge Posada a hall of famer?

Use the Daily Sports Digest

With no high school scores to report from the last three days, now is a good time for a reminder that the Daily Sports Digest is not just a place for high school game results and college updates. 

The digest is here for you to send in your updates on local sports teams at all levels, from youth on up, and to upload your pictures and videos. 

We would like to provide you with  for you to add your best photos and/or videos to share. If you see anything in our high school scores, standings or schedule that requires updating, please e-mail Mark Rinaldi directly at HVDailySportsDigest@gmail.com or like us on Facebook and post updates on our wall. Marc Maturo covers college athletics across the nation. Please send updates of your local schools or players to marcmaturo@aol.com.

Today’s Schedule:                

In Boys Basketball, Nanuet heads to Spring Valley at 5:30 p.m.

In Girls Basketball, Nanuet will host Spring Valley at 4 p.m.

In boys basketball, Nyack heads to Pearl River at 7 p.m.

In girls basketball, Nyack will host Pearl River at 4 p.m.

In ice hockey, Nyack and Pearl River will face off at Sport-O-Rama at 9:15 p.m.

In boys basketball, Albertus Magnus heads to Tappan Zee at 7 p.m.

In girls basketball, Tappan Zee heads to Albetus Magnus at 4:15 p.m.

Saturday's Schedule

In wrestling, Pearl River competes in the Rockland County Championships 9:30 a.m. at Tappan Zee High School.

In girls basketball, Burke Catholic will visit Pearl River at 2 p.m.

Sunday's Schedule

In track and field, the Pearl River boys and girls teams will compete at the Rockland County Championships 9 a.m. at the Armory. 

About this column: The Daily Sports Digest is Patch’s way of increasing reader involvement in sports coverage. We would like to provide you with step by step instructions for you to add your best photos and/or videos to share. If you see anything in our high school scores, standings or schedule that requires updating, please e-mail Mark Rinaldi directly at HVDailySportsDigest@gmail.com or like us on Facebook and post updates on our wall. Marc Maturo covers college athletics across the nation. Please send updates of your local schools or players to marcmaturo@aol.com.